


Thank God It's Not Paste-Pot Pete

by ottobarnes



Series: Winterhawk Week 2016 [3]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Bisexual Clint Barton, Fluff, Marks appear after the bond forms, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Winterhawk Week, ass jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 08:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6949426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottobarnes/pseuds/ottobarnes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With everyone's personal soulmark located on their left wrist, Bucky mourns the fact that no one can bond with him and get his mark since he lost it in the fall. But that doesn't mean love is entirely out of the cards for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank God It's Not Paste-Pot Pete

Bucky sits on his bed at the Avengers Tower after the latest mission, stripped of tactical gear and bare to the waist. He stares at the metal plating in his wrist, flexing the fingers a little.

He remembers the mark that had appeared on his wrist when he was fourteen. It had been a red star with wings, just like the wings of the Howling Commandos that Steve later formed. Bucky'd always really liked the wings on his mark. They made him feel like he could fly, right up until the moment that he'd learned that he absolutely couldn't fly, he could only fall.

That same fall had stripped his wings from him. He'd lost his soul mark along with his arm, and with it any chance of someone bonding with him.

A knock on the door shakes him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Buck, it's movie night. You coming?"

He sighs and pulls on a tank top. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute, Stevie." He shuffles out to the common room and finds the rest of the team already debating which movie to watch. Bucky stays out of it, like he always does. He’s not really up to date on which movies are out anyway, let alone which ones are any good.

He’s not the only one hovering near the back of the room. Clint is leaning against the back wall with his eyes closed. He opens them just long enough to look at Bucky and nod before going back to waiting out the argument.

Bucky likes Clint. He understands what Bucky’s been through, sometimes even more than Steve. He’s also a relaxing presence, not demanding that Bucky do or be anything in particular, or live up to any expectations. Clint was one of the first people at the tower Bucky made friends with, and he’d grown to really appreciate how Clint was able to just sit with him when he needed it or to provide distraction or reassurance.

Just now, Bucky appreciates the solidarity of someone else not being caught up in little arguments about what to watch or where to sit.

Steve ends up getting his way with _The Princess Bride_ , which Bucky hasn't seen before. Everyone settles in around the living room: Steve and Sam cuddle up in an oversized armchair, Tony and Pepper on the loveseat, Bruce at one end of the long couch and Natasha at the other. Wanda takes the last chair, leaving Bucky and Clint to fight over the remaining seat on the couch. Bucky puts on his most menacing glare -- Clint goes for puppy-dog eyes. Menace wins. Clint takes the floor at Bucky’s feet, leaning back against the couch between Bucky and Natasha.

The movie is pretty good, although Bucky doesn't think much of Buttercup. He also finds his thoughts continuing to stray to Clint and how uncomfortable he probably is on the floor, and whether or not he could squeeze to make room for him on the couch.

Most people seem to be really enjoying the film, though Bruce started to fall asleep only fifteen minutes in. Clint keeps turning to smile at Bucky and mouth the lines along with the characters while making exaggerated expressions. Natasha glances at the two of them every once in a while and smiles before continuing to watch the rest of the room. Bucky is pretty sure Wanda is the only other one there who hadn't seen the film yet, and he's glad not the only one whose reactions are still being analyzed.

About thirty minutes into the movie, just after the man in black has defeated the giant, Clint pushes himself up off the floor and stretches for a long moment. He wanders away in the direction of the kitchen.

“Anyone else want anything while I'm up?”

"Grab me some popcorn," Bucky says, looking over the back of the couch at Clint.

"As you wish," Clint says with a grin and a wink before disappearing into the kitchen. Bucky blinks, wincing a little at the sudden stinging on his ribs. His hand moves to cover the spot, but he turns it into a brushing motion to avoid attention.

“Actually.” Bucky stands and starts edging out of the room. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

“I’m stealing your spot while you’re gone!” Clint calls after him.

Bucky waits until he’s around the corner to race down to the bathroom and close the door behind him. He jerks up his shirt and looks in the mirror at the small mark now on his skin. It’s the same purple bullseye he’s seen on Clint’s wrist, and it definitely wasn’t there earlier in the day. Bucky stares at it for a moment before hunching over the sink and breathing heavily. He forces himself to take deeper breaths in an attempt to calm down.

Turning on the sink, he splashes his face with water. Then he wets his fingertips and pulls up his shirt again, rubbing at the mark to make sure it’s well and truly a part of him now and not some horrible joke someone is playing. How can he get Clint's mark? How can he get anyone's mark? He shouldn't be able to bond anymore.

He considers the purple circle. If he is able to gain someone's soulmark, it should only be when he feels a strong connection to the person. Could he actually have bonded with Clint, of all people? The man was a walking disaster most of the time, for all that he was quiet and seemed to always know when Bucky wanted to talk or when he wanted to be left alone. He's also annoying a lot of the time, and he has some terrible eating habits. He makes bad jokes over the comms and is a really sore loser during video games and basically all the rest of the time too. But Bucky would hate the tower if Clint wasn't around it anymore, popping out of vents and hidey-holes always covered in fresh bruises.

Damn. Bucky presses a finger to the mark. He’s bonded with Clint Barton.

Too bad there's no way Clint could ever get Bucky's mark in return.

When Bucky finally steps out of the bathroom, he finds Clint on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, but squeezed up next to Natasha to leave room for an extra person. Bucky quietly takes the seat and accepts a handful of popcorn when the bowl is thrust at him. His eyes run over Clint's face for a minute before he makes a decision.

Maybe Clint will never get his mark, but damned if Bucky isn't going to try to make this work out anyway.

\----------------

“Up you get, Barton. Out of the dumpster.” They’ve just finished up a mission, and the other members of the team have already headed back to the tower.

“All right, hold your horses, old man.” Clint swings a leg up over the edge of the dumpster. “Oh wait, hold up, hold up. Something’s caught--shit!” There’s a ripping sound and Clint grunts as he hits the ground. “Aw, pants!” He reaches around to feel the giant tear in the seat of his pants. “Damn, looks like it caught my underwear, too. And I wore my lucky boxers today!”

“They don't seem to have worked very well.”

“Fuck you, Barnes.” Clint stops feeling at the hole in his pants to give Bucky the bird. “Last chance to turn around or get flashed, by the way. I gotta grab my bow still.”

Bucky shrugs. Nothing he hasn't seen before. Clint turns around and reaches back into the dumpster for his bow. And then he spots it. There’s a soulmark on Clint’s ass.

Clint turns back around, shaking some bits of trash off his bow. He sees Bucky staring and asks, "What? Haven't you ever seen a man's ass before? Why are you staring?"

It’s not just any mark. It's a small red star with wings, the star of the Winter Soldier and the wings of the Howling Commandos. On Clint's ass.

"How long have you had that?"

"What, the bruise? Got that when you knocked me onto my ass when we were sparring a couple weeks ago. Damn, it's still there? I thought it was gone!"

"That...is not a bruise," he says, then leans forward to prod the mark with his left hand.

"What the _hell_ , Barnes, that arm is _cold_. What are you even looking at?" He turns to look over his shoulder, spinning in the attempt. "Hold on, hold on. Here," Clint says, taking off his quiver and handing it to Bucky. Then he twists at the waist so that his top half is facing almost completely backwards and he can look down. He holds that pose for a moment, then looks up at Bucky, wide-eyed, back down at the mark, and up at Bucky again. "How long has _that_ been there?"

"How the hell should I know? Don't you pay attention to your own ass?"

"No! Do you?!"

"Yes."

"You pay attention to my ass?!"

"What? I didn't-- No. Not your ass. My ass."

"You pay attention to your own ass? I mean, it's a nice ass, I can't really fault you there."

"Clint! Focus -- we’re getting off topic here. What the hell is on your ass?" Bucky points to it again and Clint skitters away.

"Your hand is _cold_ , Barnes. And I don't know, it looks like a soulmark, but I don't recognize it. Do you recognize it? Seems strange I'd get a mark I don't recognize. I've heard of people getting marks at first sight, but that doesn't actually happen outside the movies. Who would it even be? Have we met anyone new? Is it one of the delivery people? I've gotten so much takeout, how am I ever going to check them all? Or is it one of the villains we've fought? Oh my god, Bucky, what if I got a super villain's mark? What if it's one of the ones with a really stupid name? What if it's Paste-Pot Pete?" He looks horrified at the thought.

"It's mine." Bucky finally snaps out of his shock enough to speak, interrupting Clint’s babbling.

"Hot damn." Clint opens and shuts his mouth a few times.

“Could you stop making like a big-mouth bass and actually say something?” Bucky growls.

Clint’s brow furrows in confusion. “I’m not a bass,” he says.

“Seriously? You end up with my mark on your ass, when I was pretty sure no one could even get it once I lost my arm, and all you can manage to say is ‘I am not a bass’? Take off the ‘b’ and I’m pretty sure you’d be lying.” Bucky turns away in a huff.

He startles at Clint’s hand on his elbow. “No, wait, I just--damn. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

Bucky turns back to see Clint staring at the ground and shuffling his feet back and forth.

“I’m sorry,” Clint says again. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, and I promise I won’t do anything about it. I got Natasha’s mark, too, and we talked it over, and we’re still friends, so I know this can work. I’ll understand if you don’t want to hang out as much, but I swear I’ll try to make it as unawkward as possible.”

Bucky catches himself glaring and forces himself to stop and turn it into fingers pinched over his nose. “Clint, what the hell are you talking about?”

“The...the mark. I know you weren’t expecting to see it, and it’ll probably make you uncomfortable, but look.” Clint balances on his left foot for a moment to pull up his right pant leg. On his mid-calf is a black circle with a red hourglass shape inside. “See? And Nat never got my mark, either.”

“What do you mean, either?”

Clint drops his leg and frowns at Bucky. “I’m saying that it’s okay you don’t have my mark. It’s okay if you never get it. I just...I just want to be around you. And sure maybe I’m an idiot for not noticing before, it just sort of snuck up on me I guess.”

Bucky finally realizes what Clint is trying to say. He holds up a finger with his left hand while tugging at his vest with his right. He manages to yank up the side of his shirt just enough to let the purple show from under his left arm. At the sight, Clint’s mouth falls open again.

“You’re doing the catfish thing again.”

“You said big-mouth bass last time,” Clint says, one hand absently reaching toward the mark. He looks up at Bucky with wide eyes. “How long…?”

“About a week.” Bucky shrugs and lets his shirt fall. “I kept meaning to ask you out, but we never had the chance between all the flying robots and Steve’s cooking disasters. Thought no one could get my mark, since I lost it in the fall. But I wanted to try.” Bucky reaches out with his right hand and catches Clint’s hand, still hanging between them. “Do you want to?”

“Are you kidding?” Clint says, a grin finally lighting up his face again. “I think I’ve wanted to kiss your face since the first time I saw you smile.” He leans in for a moment, then sways back. “Wait. Why the hell wouldn’t someone be able to bond with you?”

Bucky raises his left hand. “No mark,” he says.

“Uh, lots of people lose their marks? Amputees, burn victims, people who are born without a left arm. What, you think that makes it impossible for them to bond? That makes no sense!”

“Oh.” Bucky can feel his face growing warmer. “I just thought…”

Clint grins again. “Now who’s the big-mouth bass. Come here, I want to kiss your big fishy face.”

“Nice pick-up line.” Bucky leans in with a smile, but they are interrupted by a loud cough from the end of the alley. Clint spins his head, and Bucky looks over his shoulder at Steve, who has his arms folded across his chest.

“Pantsless in the alley after a mission?” Steve asks.

Bucky flips him the bird, but Clint just shakes his ass and hooks an arm around Bucky. “You only wish you were this lucky,” he says before closing in for the kiss.

Bucky smiles against Clint’s lips. Steve can go find his own big-mouth bass. Bucky’s quite happy as he is.

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to [onecent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/onecent) for getting me through this and encouraging me to share my work. She's great and I love her. Go read her stuff.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [@ellery-unfolding](http://ellery-unfolding.tumblr.com).


End file.
